Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
All of creation is born from one Light. That same Light shines inside everything that exists. From it come two kinds of fruit: what only glitters like cheap glass, and what is truly precious like a pearl.
One Light shines in everything. Our job is to tell the real treasure from the shiny fake.
This shabad is by Kabir, the poet-saint whose songs are part of the Guru Granth Sahib. Jot kee jaat jaat kee jotee — creation comes from the Light, and the Light is inside creation. This is Ik Onkar, the One who is all, told as a picture. One brightness shows up as everything.
Tit laagay kanchoo-aa fal motee — from it grow two fruits, glass and pearl. Both come from the same one world. The glass is jhooth, what glitters for a while and then fades. The pearl is sach, what is real and lasts. Think of a jewellery box with a plastic bead and a real pearl side by side. Both catch the light. Only one is worth keeping.
So the work is not running away from the world. The work is learning to tell the two apart.
How do you tell the difference between something that just looks good and something that is truly good?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI